


Even if the Sky is Falling

by enby_potato



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Graphic descriptions of injury, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Immortal Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Mentions of Suicide Attempts, POV Ben Hargreeves, POV Diego Hargreeves, POV Klaus Hargreeves, POV Number Five | The Boy, Post-Apocalypse, Talk of drug abuse, Time Travel, comics and tv series, five makes a deal, it's a mishmash, mentions of overdose, no beta we die like ben, there's a lot of death but I'm not tagging it bc they go back in time and fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25703437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enby_potato/pseuds/enby_potato
Summary: They didn't stop the second apocalypse. However, Klaus (and Ben), Diego, and Five all managed to survive it. Now, Five has to make a nasty deal with the Handler, but a deal that just might save the world.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & The Handler (Umbrella Academy), Raymond Chestnut/Allison Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves/Sissy
Comments: 17
Kudos: 180





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this idea came to me at about 2am yesterday, and I just started writing. This contains elements from the comics and the tv series- just know that in the comics Klaus is immortal and Diego can hold his breath indefinitely. 
> 
> TW for moderately graphic descriptions of injuries.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Klaus has a headache. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an understatement, but he’d much rather think about the pounding in his skull from the starvation and dehydration than the fact that there is a giant wooden beam _in his stomach._ Klaus lets out a low groan as he drags himself an inch closer to where Ben is straining to hold the end of the beam. Ben grimaces as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, “I get that you’re impaled and all, but maybe you could hurry up a little? My arms are burning.” Klaus doesn’t have the strength to do anything but lift his head to glare at Ben as he slowly creeps towards freedom. Sometimes being immortal sucks ass. 

After failing to stop the apocalypse for the second time in a row, everyone had kind of scattered. The nukes came raining down and Klaus was forced to suffer as his organs boiled inside his body and he blistered beyond recognition. He couldn’t seem to die. With nothing to numb the pain, he was forced to wait in agony for an indiscernible amount of time with no one but Ben to keep him company. He was pretty sure that he had been passed out for the last few days, but still God refused to open Her gates and let him into the afterlife. Turns out Vanya was the bomb. They couldn’t stop her from blowing up the federal building, and in the end, the whole world exploded.

“You’re almost there,” Ben grunts, performing a miraculous balancing act as he shifts to the other side of Klaus, arms shaking. Klaus must’ve blacked out, his body just going through the motions for the past couple minutes as his brain struggled to block out the pain. He was almost there. Oh, thank God. He almost feels the burning in his stomach subside as hope flares within him. Almost. With one last trembling step, he heaves himself off the beam, and promptly falls flat on his face. Klaus tries to breathe as he hears Ben let the bloodied wood go with a thud. Respiration just feels a little different nowadays, what with one of his lungs punctured and filled with blood. 

Gasping and hacking up some more coppery fluid, Klaus manages to flip himself over onto his back, very purposefully ignoring all the dirt and ash and other post-apocalyptic substances that are surely infecting the gaping wound in his gut. He whimpers as something twinges near his hip, “This is the fucking _worst.”_ Klaus flops an arm over his eyes to shield them from the sun, because _apparently,_ the sun can’t afford to take just the day off and give him a break. Ben sits next to him and hums sympathetically, elbows resting on his knees. “At least you can die, Ben, I wanna join the cool kids club too!” As torturous as it is to move, Klaus needs the security of having his knees snug to his chest, all curled up into a ball. Klaus licks the metallic taste away from his gums- at this point, it’s become a habit.

“I almost wish you _would_ die,” Ben crinkles his nose, “it’s definitely more pleasant than this.”

Klaus sticks a thumb up in the air. “Thanks for your vote of confidence,” he grumbles, shivering as his ever-present fever wracks his body with cold sweat.

“Klaus,” Ben hesitates, “I- uh, I didn’t want to be gone when you woke up, but I really need to check on the others, see if anyone else survived.”

Tears blur Klaus’s vision, “Ben-”

“Please Klaus, I need to know if we’re alone or not. I need to know.” Ben walks over and grasps his hand, providing this odd sort of pressure that always feels ethereal with its eternally neutral temperature.

Klaus takes a steadying if slightly inhibited breath. _God,_ he needs to pull himself together, never mind the fact that he’s basically a zombie now. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, you go and I’ll- I’ll wait here I guess.” Ben squeezes his hand before he disappears, simply blinking out of existence as he goes to check on his brothers and sisters.

\---

Diego opens his eyes to the quiet of his underwater cave surrounding him. That’s strange. Blowing the water out of his scuba mask, Diego presses his hands to the smooth walls, eyes widening as he realizes that they have finally stopped their ceaseless tremors. Poking his head out of his cave, Diego realizes that the surface of the ocean was no longer boiling. The apocalypse, it seems, has passed. And Diego has survived it. Fucking _yeah!_ Diego gurgles out a small whoop, ready to head to the surface. He is done drinking from the freshwater spring in his cave and living off of seaweed and small fish, he can get back up to the outside world and see what has become of the world as he knows it. _What has become of the world as he knows it?_

Diego furrows his eyebrows. Are any of his siblings even still alive? Well, probably Five, but that sneaky little bastard is always finding ways to rewrite his future. What has happened to Vanya, to Luther? There was no way that they- Diego shakes the thoughts right out of his head. He’ll deal with that when he fucking gets to it. For now, Diego swims for the surface, being careful to avoid any stray venomous creatures that he has almost died at the hands of on numerous occasions. 

When his face breaks the surface, the fresh air feels so foreign and yet wonderful that Diego finds himself gasping for it, despite not really even needing it. He can now see that he is barely a mile out from shore, and he quickly sets out toward land, legs kicking hard at the prospect of standing on solid ground once again. What Diego _doesn’t_ realize is that a very surprised ghost has plopped down in the water beside him without so much as a splash.

\---

Ben is tired. Technically that’s impossible, what with him being a ghost and all, but Ben can't help but feel all worn out after finding Allison, half-buried in the rubble and clutching one of Raymond’s hands in her own. Then came Luther, shirt torn open and stained red, chest half caved in under the weight of some chunk of building. That’s why Ben is so surprised when he is not only dropped in the ocean and forced to swim, but also when he finds his brother not floating on the surface like a dead fish, but making a beeline for shore. “Diego!” he calls, before realizing that he’s an idiot. Oh fuck. He’s gonna have to find out where he is. Ben swims as rapidly as he can to catch his brother, snagging his arms around his neck for a free piggyback ride. Diego doesn’t mind. 

As Diego swims, Ben thinks. He has to figure out a way to get Klaus to Diego. It isn’t really that his life depends on it- more like his mental health and general well-being. They get to shallow water and Ben lets go as his brother stands up, and stumbles a bit, but manages to stay on his feet. He trails after Diego as his brother wanders like a lost puppy looking for a landmark or something that could tell him where he is. He turns to where Diego is standing over a sign: “Welcome to Galveston,” it reads, and below that: “Population 50,457.” Ben closes his eyes, committing it to memory. Galveston. Then, he prepares for his next jump. 

_Vanya,_ he thinks, opening his eyes to an entirely different scene. It is still kind of discombobulating, but Ben has gotten used to his “ghost hopping” as Klaus calls it, and closing his eyes helps. He is back where he had found Allison and Luther, pretty close to where Klaus is, actually, and it takes Ben a second to spot her. She lays, clothes once again shining white in spite of the debris that surrounds her personal crater. The fifty-foot in diameter depression in the ground indicates that she certainly went out with a bang. In Vanya’s arms are Sissy and Harlan, dead despite all his sister’s efforts to save them. The image before him makes his heart clench, so he snaps his eyes shut again. Time to see if Number Five is anywhere around here. 

When Ben blinks his eyes open, he is confused. The air currents, the lack of humidity, the world around him- nothing has changed. Ben shuts his eyes and tries again. It seems that Five is in a different time, just like when he disappeared the first time. He’s not going to get anywhere in his search for his (much) older brother right now, he’ll just have to try again later. Having exhausted his to-do list, Ben ghost hops back to Klaus to report his findings.

\---

Five wakes up trapped. His arms are crossed over his chest while his ankles are chained, rendering him immobile. He’s in a small, poorly lit white room, only accessed by an iron door with a thick pane of glass. Through the distortion of the glass, Five can see a woman with an elaborate green hat- the Handler. “Not this shit again...” Five mumbles, easily phasing out of the room and out of his restraints, popping into the hallway on the other side of the glass with a flash of blue light. Five irritably straightens his tie and pulls at his jacket sleeves in an attempt to flatten out the wrinkles that have appeared. When he’s finished, he looks up to see that the Handler has turned around, sporting a dainty smirk on her face. 

“Hello, Five,” she says, not moving from where she is standing.

Five glares back, “And that served… what purpose?” She really hadn’t needed to lock him up, she knew it that it wasn’t going to do any good.

The Handler adjusts her hat before replying, shifting it to a steeper angle on her impeccable white curls. “Oh,” she waves a dismissive hand, “It was fun to see you squirm just a bit.”

Five’s frown deepens as he sets off down the hallway in search of a lounge, and, in turn, some coffee. The Handler makes no attempt to talk to him as they make their way down the fluorescent-lit halls, her clacking heels trailing his quieter uniform shoes. When Five finally finds a room with a couple couches and a full coffee pot, he phases up onto the counter to reach the mugs before coming back down and pouring some for himself. “Want anything?”

The Handler shakes her head, sitting down. “I’m fine for right now.” She pats the spot next to her, crossing her legs. “Join me.”

Rather than walk around the small table in the center of the room, Five phases to the couch and sits down. Five sips in silence for a few minutes before asking, “Well?”

Humming and tapping her fingernails against her thigh, the Handler lets out a light huff. _“Well,_ I was hoping we could cooperate for the time being? I can help you with your current... _family issues.”_

Five scoffs, taking another sip of his bitter black coffee. “And what is it that you want me to do in exchange?”

The Handler grins, “You know me so well.”

“You have the tendency to get more than you give.”

“True. _However,_ the world wasn’t supposed to end in 1963. The timeline has been derailed and it must be set back on its proper course.” She sends him a charming smile. “You can help me with that, Number Five.”

“And this ‘proper course’ will cause the world to end in 2019?” That doesn’t seem like a great deal if Five is being honest.

The Handler chuckles nonchalantly. “Oh goodness no, that was all just a big mistake.” 

It takes a second for Five to process her words before he can barely hold himself back from gaping at her in anger and flat disbelief. “A big _mistake?”_ How the _fuck_ could the end of the world be a _mistake?_ Mistakes are trusting Klaus to go shopping. Or drinking instant coffee just because you need some caffeine.

“We had a slight misunderstanding. Don’t worry, the problem has been taken care of.” The cheshire grin on her face unnerves him enough to not question it, he knows what the Handler is capable of.

Five is still composing himself after that bomb when there comes a sharp knock on the door. “Lila?” he asks, staring at the familiar girl. Diego’s girlfriend- _of course_ she works for the commission.

The girl in question steps through the doorway and opts to ignore him in favor of addressing the Handler. “Mother,” (Five scoffs, he knew there was something off about her), “what is a _criminal_ doing in the Commission?” Criminal? Children are annoying.

The Handler tilts her head at her daughter, “There are no criminals here, simply valuable assets.”

Five rolls his eyes, setting his coffee on a side table, “You can leave now, the adults are talking.”

Lila doesn’t seem to like that, and she responds in kind with her usual blunt sass. “But mom, why can’t we just kill him? He deserves it and you know it.” Lila slyly reaches towards a knife on her belt, fingering it with a grin, “Whatever it is you need him for, I’m sure that I could do it instead.” He ignores the knife, she’s not anyone he needs to be afraid of.

A small pout appears on the Handler’s face at the backtalk, “I highly doubt that. Leave, and we will discuss this later.” At least their relationship involved more communication than Five had ever had with Reginald.

Lila restrains herself from saying anything else and instead backs into the hallway, shutting the door with a soft click. Five immediately pipes up, “So I stop the apocalypse and you give me back my family. You’ll put us all back into the correct timeline?” The Handler nods in assent, giving the go-ahead for Five to ask his most important question. The question that’s been burning in his mind ever since he last saw Hazel. 

“How do I stop the apocalypse?”


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus gets hit a whole bunch, Diego and Five are tired, and Ben is having the best time of his death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, a couple days ago: This will be two parts. I'm not going to make this longer than 6k.  
> Me, now: Well, fuck.
> 
> So yeah, it's three parts now, but if you know me you'll know that that's pretty standard for me because I am SO BAD AT WRITING WITHIN WORD CONSTRAINTS. If you see any erroneous errors lmk, otherwise, enjoy!
> 
> Major TWs for this chapter, so please read: talk of drug abuse, mentions of overdose, mentions of suicidal thoughts, graphic descriptions of injury.
> 
> Please tell me if there's anything else I should list!

Klaus is so done with living. All he can really do is lie in the dirt, and even that’s a task. Every time he closes his eyes and takes his last breath, every time his heart stops, this happens. What’s happening right now. He’s lying in a field with a winding gravel road at the edge and a treeline parallel to that. Everything seems to have the color sucked out of it, but he can smell the freshly cut grass, and he can tell that he no longer has any wounds. On top of that, his hair is brushed and his beard freshly shaven. 

Up the gravel She comes, riding on Her pink bike with streamers dangling from each handle, twirling in the breeze. Klaus sits up and waves his right hand at Her, the one with HELLO tattooed onto it. She comes to halt, ever so gracefully, dismounts, and makes Her way towards Klaus. “You’re back. What do you want?” 

Her irritation makes him gasp in mock shock, “You’re not happy to see me?” 

She plops a hand on Her hip in a very ungod-like way. “I saw you fifteen minutes ago.”

Klaus criss crosses his legs and places his chin in his palms, his elbow on his knees. “So you missed me.”

“No.” She frowns at him, thinking. “If I let you see him, will you leave Me alone?”

Klaus whips his head up, eyes splaying wide open, “Yes. Yes, forever and ever.” Klaus pauses, “Well at least for a couple months. You know how it is.”

She just sighs and points, “Over there.” On the horizon, a hazy shape has appeared, and Klaus barely has time to thank Her before his feet are carrying him at top speed toward what he can now make out to be a cottage. His legs are burning and his breathing is rapid, but he pays it no mind as he draws nearer to him. To Dave. The only person he’s ever truly loved more than himself.

Klaus skids to a stop in front of the porch and runs a hand through his hair, overcome by a dense wave of emotion. He feels tears pricking his eyes even as he walks up the steps and taps his knuckles against the door.

“Who is-” the door cracks open and his head pops out, his beautiful blue eyes immediately latching onto Klaus’s green ones. Dave seems to choke, coughing for a few seconds as Klaus’s eyebrows pinch in concern.

“Are you alright there bud?” Klaus asks teasingly.

“Stop-” Dave slaps his arm, “joking-” slap, “It’s-” slap, “not-” slap, “funny!” he punctuates the sentence with one last whap of his hand.

“Owww,” Klaus complains, rubbing the red patch of skin on his bicep, “You’re meaaaan.”

Dave just huffs and pulls him close by his waist in response, kissing him firmly. Their teeth kind of bump together at both of their eagerness, but it doesn’t stop them. Klaus is feeling a little hot and bothered when he places a hand on his boyfriend’s chest, “Wait.” Dave is puzzled, but he pulls back immediately, concern evident in his eyes. “We don’t have much time and-” Klaus takes a deep breath, “and there are some things that I have to say.”

Dave nods, a wistful and bittersweet look overcoming his features. “Sure.” He hip-bumps Klaus playfully, “Come inside, idiot, we’re not standing out on the porch all day.” Still the same Dave. Taking his hand, Dave pulls him over to the loveseat in his quaint and cozy living room, the exact opposite of what Klaus had lived in growing up, what with the big, empty mansion and the soulless rooms. He liked it. “Can I get you something? Tea? Coffee?” Dave waggles eyebrows, “Coffee with a kick?”

“Oh,” Klaus grins, “I’m actually- Um, I’m sober.”

Dave’s face practically splits open as he topples his boyfriend over in a hug. “That’s fantastic! Congratulations!” Klaus wraps his arms tightly around the warmth in front of him, breathing in the comfort of the familiar scent. Klaus finally let’s go, but he stays tucked under the security of Dave’s arm, head on his chest. “So… how did you die?”

Klaus winces, “That’s kind of complicated. I’m not really dead? Well, I guess I am. I mean, right now I’ve been impaled and blistered and have some God-awful radiation poisoning, but She’ll send me back soon enough.” How does one explain that they are so annoying even God Herself won’t take them?

“You mean she’s going to send you back.” It’s not a question, but Klaus shrugs in response anyway. “Over and over again. You’re immortal.” Klaus squeezes his eyes shut. He really doesn’t want to be having this conversation. He just wants kisses and cuddles and laughter.

“Yeah.”

Dave draws in a sharp breath, a suppressed sob barely escaping. Then he whispers, “How much pain are you in Klaus?”

Klaus could lie to him but he knows how pointless that would be. “In the living world? A lot.” Candid and frank.

“And I might never see you again?”

Klaus doesn’t think he can talk about that, make it a real and solid thing, not without breaking down, so he chooses to ignore it. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” They sit in silence, enjoying each other’s presence, and finding a deep sense of solace within one another.

\---

Diego is in a daze. He doesn’t know what to do. Three-hundred miles away his siblings are probably all dead, and here he is, roaming around, trying not to break down. Diego doesn’t cry, but right now he feels like he might. His family is gone. Possibly the whole world. What if he is the last one left and there’s nothing he can do about it? Diego inhales sharply as he realizes how Five must have felt getting stuck in the post-apocalyptic future, and at age thirteen. Diego doesn’t think he would have been able to survive this sheer feeling of loneliness that young. Maybe he should give Five a little more credit. 

To Diego’s right, he hears a scuffling noise and registers a zip of movement. In a flash, the rat is dead, a knife stuck directly through its eye. He makes his way over to the limp rodent and plucks up his knife, wiping the red and yellow fluid onto his pants in two practiced moves. He’s grabbed the rat by its tail and is heading towards the nearest rubble fire when he hears someone clear their throat. Immediately, he whips around, ready to knife the… kid? 

“Five!” Diego resheathes his weapon in a flash, startling even himself when he wraps his arms around him without a second thought. 

After an awkward beat, Five tentatively pats his back. “You can let go now.”

Diego releases Five and scratches the back of his neck. “Uhhh, right.” He coughs as he inhales a drift of smoke, making Five wince. How much trauma were you left with when you survived on your own for forty-some years? “It’s good to see you, Five.”

Five just nods in acknowledgment, “We need to get to Klaus and Ben.” He holds out his hand.

“...Klaus and Ben?” Diego’s eyes widen. “They survived? How?” His mind is whirling.

Five frowns, “I wouldn’t say survived, but- well, come see for yourself.” Diego takes the proffered hand, his gut wrenching with that familiar feeling of being dropped as a flash of blue light obscures his vision.

When the blinding brightness disappears, he hears Klaus complain, “Well, do you have a better idea?” It takes a second to spot his brother as he blends in with all the wreckage, bloody, dirty, and the color of gray ash.

“Oh my god!” he sprints towards his brother, looking like death itself. Klaus’s skin is red and blistered, and, now that he’s closer, Diego can see that it’s sloughing off around his joints. He’s emaciated to the point that he almost seems to be a prisoner of war. A continuous stream of blood trickles from the corner of his mouth, and when Klaus smiles at him, Diego can see that his gums are puffy and bleeding. Every breath that he takes shudders, and worst of all, Diego can see right _through_ him. There’s a gaping wound right through his gut, and Diego really isn’t sure how he’s alive.

Klaus gives him a quaking wave in greeting before convulsing violently. “Ben,” he groans, “slap me. I’m not dying _again_.” Ben flickers into view for a moment, slapping Klaus firmly across the face before disappearing. “Thanks,” he shakes his head like a wet dog.

Next to him lays a pile of sticks. Five sighs at the sight. “Were you… trying to send a smoke signal?” He looks around at the hundreds of other fires dotting the land.

Klaus glowers at (Ben) thin air, “Don’t I-told-you-so me Bennie Boy.”

“More importantly,” Diego interjects into Ben’s probable snarky comeback, “dying… again?”

“Yeah, I’ve died what-” he looks back over at (Ben) the air, “fourteen times?” He must get confirmation because he turns back to Diego and Five. “Fourteen times,” he says decisively.

Five looks shaken, “I mean, I knew you had to have overdosed at least once but-”

“What?!” Diego cries. Five knew about this?!

“Hey, hey. Calm down guys, only six of them were overdoses.” Diego goes slack-jawed in horror. Six overdoses where his brother’s heart stopped and he never even _knew?_ “The other ones were all in like, the last twenty-four hours.”

“And yet you’re still miraculously alive?” Diego is upset and guilt-ridden, but mostly he’s mystified. How does one die fourteen times and still come out of it (kind of) breathing?

A muddled look that could almost be horror passes over Five’s face. “You can’t really die, can you? You’re immortal.”

Diego would have done a fantastic spit take just now if he actually had something to drink. At the moment, his throat is dry and raw from the smoking wastelands, and he can tell that his voice is already getting scratchy.

“Yeah,” Klaus just says from where he’s slumped against a rock casually, “God’s a bitch, by the way.” Ben flickers back into corporeal state and punches Klaus in the shoulder. “Ow!” he protests.

Ben rolls his eyes, “No wonder She doesn’t want you.”

“God’s… a She?” Diego asks, trying to process all this new information.

“A little girl actually,” Klaus shrugs, “She and Five would love each other- two crotchety old people in the bodies of children.”

Diego sits on the ground, forgetting that Klaus probably needs medical attention (well, if he’s immortal he doesn’t _need_ it per se). He makes a list in his head, like Five had once told him to do when they were kids. 

1) Klaus is immortal.  
After all that they’d been through, all the weirdness in their lives? This didn’t seem like the most outlandish thing.  
2) God is a little girl who apparently doesn’t want Klaus in the afterlife.  
Klaus is pretty annoying, but Diego doesn’t really think that that warrants an eternal ban on permanent death.  
3) Not only did Klaus (and Ben) and Diego survive, but Five is here now too.

...Wait a second. How _is_ Five here now? 

\---

Ben is having one of the greatest moments of his death. Not only has he gotten to hit Klaus twice in the past ten minutes (long overdue), but Klaus seems to be keeping him corporeal without even thinking about it. So everyone is surprised when he is able to voice his own thoughts. “I couldn’t find you. Like when you were in the future, or when Klaus was in Vietnam.” 

Diego’s eyes are bulging and Ben’s pretty sure that he’s about to scream, but Klaus waves him off. “Story for another time.” He pokes Ben’s ankle. “Not totally sure how I’m doing this, but it’s great to see you in the ghostly flesh Benjamin Button!”

“Guys, focus,” says Five. “I’m here because I was sent by the Commission,” he admits.

“Not those guys again,” Klaus whines, “They don’t really like me.” Ben’s chest still clenches, remembering how Klaus had been abducted and tortured, spent ten months in Vietnam, and no one really even seemed to notice.

“Why would the Commission send you? Don’t they want to kill you?” Diego questions. He has a fair point. Last time Ben had come into contact with any of the Commission, it was the Swedes, and they certainly weren’t all that friendly.

“They _did._ And then they realized that they needed my help to stop the apocalypse. Or, more specifically, they needed my help convincing you to stop the apocalypse.”

Klaus tilts too far to the left and flops over, unable to sit back up. “How’re we gonna do that?” Then, “Benito, come help me back up.” Ben obliges, scooping him up under his armpits and staining his hands red. As he drapes him over the rock, Klaus mumbles, “Thanks.”

Five looks concernedly at Klaus, “Hey Diego, why don’t you take the corpse over here to find some things to patch him up with?” Klaus makes an attempt to protest, but Diego’s already picking him up, bridal style. “We’ll talk more when you guys get back, try to find something to drink as well. I’m thirsty.” Ben cannot relate. Ben immediately goes to follow Klaus, because, well, old habits die hard. “Hey, Ben.” 

Ben turns to look at Five, “Yeah?”

“I want to spend some quality time with my favorite ghost brother now that I can actually see and hear him.” Ben smiles and turns around, hoping that Klaus can keep him corporeal despite the growing distance between them.

“Sure.” Five eyes a dusty chunk of bricks before brushing it off and sitting down, and Ben follows suit. They sit for a couple of minutes, until Klaus and Diego have disappeared behind some crumbling foundation for an old post office.

Quickly, Five’s expression turns somber. “Ben, we can all jump back in time to before the apocalypse... But you’re the only one who can stop it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I've never written in this fandom before, but after season two, it sure is buzzing! Thank you all for the kudos and love! I'll have part three out within the next week!


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus struggles, Ben says goodbye, and they all time travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the end! I finished this while I really should have been sleeping, but I don't fucking care.
> 
> TW for "death" (idk??) and graphic descriptions of injury.

Five feels gross. He feels like there’s this little creature living inside of him and it’s eating away at his stomach until there’s nothing left but this sickening empty feeling. He knows what it is. It’s guilt. Five knows that the only way to stop the apocalypse is for Ben to die. To move on. For real this time. And if the other’s try to stop it? Well, Five isn’t gonna tell them. This is Ben's choice, and he’s made up his mind. Five sits there as Ben tells him all the things he needs to say before he goes.

Ben wrings his hands together. “Tell them I’m sorry, and that I love them.” He trains his eyes on the sky, forcing the tears not to spill over. Ben had explained to Five that he needs them to know that it’s not their fault, that it’s his time and they have to let him go. “I died seventeen years ago. All the rest of this?” Ben waves an arm around vaguely. “All these years with Klaus? It’s all been gravy.” His smile is sad and sweet. “At least this time I get to say goodbye to you, Five. Tell Klaus something for me, will you?” Five nods, jaw rigidly set in the way it always is when he’s trying not to betray emotion. “Tell him that I was too scared to go to the light. It wasn’t him that made me stay.” He hears a loud guffaw. Klaus and Diego are far closer than he had realized, Klaus laughing and Diego scowling straight ahead as he lugs his brother along.

“The idiots are back.” Five turns away discreetly to wipe his eye because Ben is ready to go, and he knows that it’s the only way. 

Diego basically drops Klaus which results in a pained yelp, “Owie…” Klaus protests.

Diego just rolls his eyes, pulling several things out of his jacket. “We found this jacket, a half-used bottle of disinfectant, and some cleanish scraps of fabric we can probably tie around his... you know.”

Five frowns. That’s not a lot to work with. “Okay,” he organizes his thoughts, “I would say that we should stop the bleeding, but at this point, I think that you’ve bled out all that you can. The only reason you’re still alive is because you’re immortal.” God, that was so strange, his younger brother was gonna outlive him, even though, back in his thirteen-year-old body, he should've been the one to survive longest. 

Klaus brushes off the dying talk. “It’s fine, I'm a fast healer.” Five inspects the wound. Sure enough, Klaus has already started healing. A remarkable amount. Too much to not have had a bit of divine intervention. Five starts to wonder before he realizes that his brain is off track- now is not the time. 

“Disinfectant.” He holds out his hand, and the disinfectant appears in his palm. “Cloth.” He takes the clothing scraps and gets to work, spilling some disinfectant onto the material before starting on his biggest injury. He dabs at the edges of the wound, doing his best to clear away all of the dirt and dried blood. It’s definitely one of the more unnerving things that Five has seen, staring through a person. When he’s done the best he can with the front, he has Diego and Ben hold Klaus up by his armpits, one on each side, and cleans the back. Klaus complains the whole time, and Five doesn’t even bother to tell him to shut up. After all, it can’t be pleasant being the literal walking dead. “Alright, we need to wrap it,” Five informs, taking the longest strip of slightly stretchy fabric out of Diego’s pocket and binding Klaus’s stomach firmly. 

Next on the agenda: time travel- a fickle thing, really. Five helps Klaus into his shirt, and Ben picks him up this time, Diego whining that his arms are too sore. They gather in a circle on the barren ashy grey rubble field, joining hands as Five prepares for a jump, one done properly this time. There is no way that Five is going to mess this up, not after what happened last time. The familiar tugging sensation in his gut begins to take over as the air around them thrums hot and blustery, permeated with the strange and seemingly sourceless blue light that always appears when he jumps. He thinks he hears Klaus humming Journey to the Past which he is amused by but can’t totally appreciate with all the focus and energy he’s expending right now. In a split second, he hears a woosh like a baseball bat swinging through the air, the brilliant blue disappearing to be replaced with - thank God - the federal building, right by where Kennedy’s assassination is to take place in… Five pushes through a portion of the crowd towards an old man with a wristwatch. “Excuse me, sir, would you happen to know what time it is? I told my father I’d meet him over there at one o’clock, but he hasn’t shown up yet, and I lost my watch.”

The man turns to him, and Five gives him his most charming smile. He’s pretty sure it comes off a tad wolfish, but the man checks his wrist anyway. “12:51. He should be here soon, son.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Five turns around and his expression sours. _God,_ he hates looking like a thirteen-year-old. He makes his way back through the crowd that has already thickened in anticipation of Kennedy’s arrival. 

The idiots are still standing where he left them, thankfully, although they have garnered some attention due to their dusty, bloody outfits, and the utter solemness on their faces in contrast to the rest of the ecstatic people. In fact, Five is really starting to question the old man who didn’t make a single comment on his post-apocalyptic appearance, and the red smeared across his cuffs and collar. Klaus especially is getting some odd looks, lax in Diego’s arms as he mumbles to (Ben) the air next to him, his torn shirt completely saturated with semi-dry blood. “Hey! Kids!” Five calls waving them towards the tall building not fifty feet away, “Let’s go, we’ve got less than fifteen minutes!” Although he can’t see him, Five has no doubt that Ben is coming along. He almost wishes he would back out, just leave now, and Five could find some other way to save the world. A pang shoots through his gut as Diego catches up and he hears Klaus mumble, “Cheer up Banjo, we’re going to save the world!” 

_(It’s the only way, Five.)_

Five shakes the words off, choosing to focus on getting them into the building without attracting any more eyes than they already have. They make their way to the main lobby, only to be stopped by a frazzled security guard in a beige uniform, eying them like they’re homeless. “I’m sorry sir,” he addresses Diego, “you’re not allowed to be here. I’m going to have to ask you and your friends to leave the premises immediately.”

_(Your brother is the only one who can save the world.)_

Five’s face twists into an uncharacteristically innocent look that probably seems unnatural to those who know him. It sure fools the security guard. “Hold my hand?” he asks in his best thirteen-year-old boy voice. 

_(He won’t be_ gone.)

Diego seems startled for a moment before a look of understanding crosses his face. “Sure, _kiddo.”_ He grasps his hand tightly, a slyness seeping into his eyes.

_(You know that you’ll see him again one day.)_

Klaus looks over his shades, and, okay, when the _fuck_ did Klaus snag some aviators? “Bye suckaaaa!” Klaus whoops, briefly flashing the guard his GOODBYE palm before they’ve jumped into a hallway with a pulsing white light at the end. Five knows it’s futile, but after Diego stows Klaus safely out of harm’s way, Five goes with him to fight their way down the hall. 

_(You know what you have to do, Five.)_

Five doesn’t want it to end like this, but he’s thrown back with the force of Vanya’s power, smacking his head and passing out.

_(This is the only way.)_

\---

Klaus doesn’t want to get up. If he gets up, will it make it real like he thinks it will? He hears the words echoing in his head on repeat, even as he tries to block them out. 

_“Can you hug me as I go? It’s been a long time si-”_

Klaus hadn’t caught much of what Ben was saying to Vanya, but what he did hear makes him certain. He’s gone. He’s gone for good. The tears begin to stream down his face, rolling off his cheeks and dripping onto his shirt. Klaus tries to wipe his eyes on his arm, but he only succeeds at smearing ash into them, which makes him cry even harder. Klaus had played patty cake with Ben, fought him, and once even managed to tickle his feet while he wasn’t paying attention, but never had given him a hug. A simple hug. Sure, Ben had hugged Jill and Diego, but it couldn’t have been the same, after all, he had just been possessing Klaus’s body. What would it be like to not truly hug someone for seventeen years? Klaus expressed his love with physical contact- he couldn’t imagine.

“Are you all okay?” He hears Vanya call, her bare feet padding down the hall as she rushes to check on their brothers.

There’s a groan, and then Five, sounding… heartbroken, says, “You’re alive.” It’s almost bittersweet, like he can sense that Ben is gone too.

Some glass goes skittering across the floor as Diego sits up, “Did we save the world or what?”

Vanya looks around, unmistakably relieved to see that her siblings are going to be alright. “I think so. Building’s still here.” 

There’s more shuffling, and then it seems that everyone is standing but Klaus himself, curled up on the linoleum floor, face damp and eyes puffy. “JFK-” starts Diego.

“No.” Five shuts him down. “Our brother comes first.” He knows that they’re walking down the hall towards him, and he almost wishes that he had Five’s powers so that he could just disappear, but he doesn’t, and his legs aren’t about to walk his broken body right out of here, so all he does is lay there and sob. “Klaus?” Klaus doesn’t answer. He knows what Dave would say: He’d tell him to at least let them know that he’s all right, that it’s okay to cry, and that he loves him. That it’s okay to let other people love him. “Klaus?!” Five sounds concerned, which makes Klaus just want to curl up even tighter and hide. 

The footsteps speed up before skidding to a halt near his feet. Softly, Vanya asks, “Klaus?” and Klaus doesn’t know what breaks in him, but he reaches his arms out, and she quickly kneels to pull him into a hug. 

He’s so choked up that all he can get out is “Ben” before breaking down and shaking in her arms. Vanya’s crying with him, Diego’s crying the hardest he has since the day that Ben actually died, and Five has his back to him, staring down the hallway, shoulders quivering ever so slightly as his composure breaks down. The last thing he expects to hear from his eldest brother is “I’m so sorry.” Five doesn’t apologize easily, and when he does? Half the time it’s just his usual sarcastic personality shining through. Klaus stares at the back of Five’s head, waiting for him to continue. “It was the only way and I know that, but it all just feels so…” Five trails off, deep-set guilt carved into every inch of his face as he turns around.

It takes a second for Klaus to put all the pieces together, and he feels like he should be angry, but all that comes out is, “You knew.” It’s not accusatory, it’s not even broken. It’s just a fact, and it’s all Klaus thinks he can handle right now. The emotions will come later, after this numbness has worn off. 

Diego’s gone stone cold and silent, but Vanya stands up and walks over to Five. “It’s not your fault because it wasn’t your decision. Ben said you would blame yourself. He had a choice, and it wasn’t easy, but you weren’t the one that made it. You weren’t the one who caused the apocalypse.” Her face twists a little, but she moves on. “The world doesn’t rest on your shoulders alone, it rests on all of us, everyone on this whole planet. There are some things you just can’t change.” She pokes Five in the shoulder, getting her point across. “It’s a shitty world full of shitty people sometimes.”

And yeah. Yeah, it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a nice little journey! Tysm for reading, I'm only fourteen and my life and schedule is still dictated by my parents, meaning that I don't have a lot of time to write, so I appreciate you readers all the more! Drop a kudos (it literally takes two seconds), or make my day and write a comment!
> 
> Also, if you have any requests or prompts for another fic, I'm open for suggestions!


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